My Walking Talking True Loves

Although some of my greatest anxieties with Teddy's diagnosis were for AJ—mostly centered around missing out on typical experiences with a sibling—I've known all along that AJ can be a better person because of having Teddy as his brother.

AJ's already learning to help Teddy, whether it's getting Teddy's coat out of the closet or taking off his shoes and braces before nap time. Sometimes AJ will decide Teddy is hungry and get him a snack all by himself. Sometimes AJ gives Teddy an entire box of goldfish crackers on his tray. (He's generous!)

My favorite, though, is when AJ encourages Teddy's new skills or ones he's working to develop. Sometimes AJ is literally a cheerleader, clapping and yelling for Teddy. Other times, he's helpful and encouraging.

AJ just bought a new Paw Patrol toy yesterday with his own money. It's some sort of keypad that allows Ryder to call all the pups. I know I just went over most everyone's head, who isn't well versed on Paw Patrol. It's basically a handheld toy with buttons to push that make different sounds. AJ's already been sharing it with Teddy, encouraging him to push the buttons.

One of my favorite things, though, is when AJ helps Teddy practice walking. Teddy has a gait trainer, but he's gotten smarter about how to use it improperly with less effort to go faster. He found the cheating way to use it because he wants to keep up with AJ. So we've been taking a break from the gait trainer and focusing more on deliberate steps, so he can learn how to actually shift his body weight to walk. There's been a handful of times Teddy's walking while just holding AJ's hands, but I've never captured those brief moments on video. I did manage to capture Teddy walking and pushing his bike while AJ rode it, which is one of their favorite things to do together now.

This melts my heart. (I did stop filming before before AJ hopped off the bike causing Teddy to catapult backward.)